Little Secrets
by amaranth-moon15
Summary: What is going to happen if an engine breaks down and none of the passengers has the least inkling of how to fix it? Hotch/Prentiss
1. Chapter 1

"Damn." The SUV had unceremoniously gone dead, leaving Hotch and Emily stranded somewhere in the middle of nowhere. And the engine wouldn't start again. It wasn't the gas, they had refuelled before they had left the little village only about one hour ago. It wasn't the battery, either, because the lights in the car still worked.

Hotch looked at Emily apologetically. With a lopsided smile he said "I don't even have to go out and pretend to check the engine. I wouldn't have a clue what to look for or to do."

Emily snorted. "How'd you like it if I went out and fixed the broken engine in the blink of an eye?"

Hotch lifted an eyebrow. "I'd feel entirely bereft of my manhood." he stated coolly.

"I hate to break the news to you, but you're not behaving all manly right now anyway." Emily sighed. "But you may relax; I don't know a thing about engines, too."

They looked at each other for a split moment before breaking into a fit of giggles and laughter.

When they had calmed down a bit, Hotch sighed and picked up his Blackberry to call the towing service.

"Shit."

"What is it?" Emily wanted to know.

"No service." Now, Hotch was seriously annoyed.

"You're joking."

"Sorry."

Outside the evening was already dawning, the light quickly disappearing. The chance of anyone driving by tonight they could ask for help was minimal. "It looks like we'll have to spend the night if nobody happens to come along here."


	2. Chapter 2

Part II

Emily looked pretty incredulous. „Mh, now that's a twist. I hope you packed water and blankets. I'm not all that prepared for camping." She laughed exhaustedly.

"Yeah… You know, on the plus side, this car's spacious. Imagine we'd be driving a Mini Cooper." More giggling ensued.

With a sigh, Emily asked. "Well. What are we going to do with all this time until someone drives by and rescues us from this?" Hotch gave her a surprisingly intense look – or did she only imagine this? A moment later the impression was gone, but she was still wondering what just had happened. "What do you suggest?" he asked.

With a cheeky grin, Emily said: "Give me your wallet."

"What?"

"Your wallet. I want to see what you carry in it."

"Well, you know, I put money in it." Hotch teased her.

"Yeah, Captain Clever, you know I want to see the rest you have in it."

"Agent Prentiss, would you remember that you are still talking to your superior." Hotch stated calmly. Emily bit her lower lip. She was about to utter an excuse when Hotch started laughing again. "You thought I was serious, didn't you?"

Emily looked a bit sheepish. "Well… you can be a bit intimidating at times. And not everyone is convinced you actually have a sense of humour."

Hotch took his wallet from his jacket and held it out to Emily. When she wanted to grab it, he drew it back. "Only if you let me see your purse as well." They swapped, both curious about the little secrets they might find out about the other.

Hotch's wallet was made of smooth, black leather. Like his entire appearance, it looked immaculate, elegant and expensive. It was slim, as Emily would have guessed it only contained very few items, but those would have all the more meaning for their bearer.

Emily drew out two photographs and a folded piece of paper. She smiled softly when she unfolded the paper. It was a drawing, obviously made by Jack rather recently. A typical child's drawing, with a yellow sun, a red house and a green tree on it, and in the centre of the scenery there was a Daddy (wearing a dark red and blue striped tie) holding his little boy's hand. "Jack loves Daddy" stood written below in neat handwriting. Emily suspected that Jack had had help from his Grandma for this.

One of the two pictures showed Hotch lying in the grass, holding his son close to him. The two Hotchners were both grinning broadly, obviously just having tumbled in mid-play. He was cute. Not Jack – of course, he was as well – but Emily's focus was not on Hotch junior. In this picture he looked so relaxed and peaceful and at ease with himself – she had never seen him this way. And his boyish grin was incredibly sexy.

From the side, Emily studied the real Hotch sitting next to her for a moment. He didn't notice, as he was too immersed in nosing around her purse. She sometimes wondered what this man carried with himself that he wouldn't – or couldn't – share with anyone. She could see he needed someone to unwind, but she had no idea how one could get through to him.

On the third photograph a little boy – not Jack, the picture was much older – was sitting on a bench between an elderly man and woman. "Who's this?" Emily asked.

When Hotch saw the picture his expression softened. "Me. I was five then. Those are my Mother's parents."

Emily looked at him and felt a rush of affection for this man, who right now looked much more like the little kid on the photo she was holding in her hand. "You carry the picture of your grandparents with you? Wow. This is… I love this, it is wonderful."

"Yeah… They were incredibly important to me. I stayed with them very often, and they were simply the perfect grandparents. Gentle, caring, and fun… I still miss them sometimes." He looked at her with a shy, slightly embarrassed smile. Instinctively, Emily took his hand. "Hotch, this is so lovely. I wish I had such memories. I nearly don't remember my own grandparents…"


	3. Chapter 3

Part III

While Emily was studying the contents of Hotch's wallet – he felt slightly uncomfortable about it, but his curiosity to find out more about Emily Prentiss had gotten the better of him – Hotch was analysing the contents of Emily's purse.

It was pink. Hotch had never noticed this before, although he was sure that he'd have to have seen her pulling out her purse at some point before. He simply couldn't remember. But that was Emily to you – when you expected it the least, something cheerful'd pop up and make you smile. She always had that effect on him.

Her purse was much thicker than his wallet. Loads of little memories seemed to be stuffed into it. Hotch pulled out a handful of receipts, a stack of customer cards that couldn't be fit into the card spaces which were already occupied with credit cards, ID's and the like. He also extracted two plastic covers, each holding a number of photos, scraps of paper and other little pieces.

He opened the plastic covers. "Careful, don't break anything." Emily instructed without even looking at him. First, Hotch looked at an old boarding pass. Flight to Rome. From the way it looked it was rather old.

Next came a picture of a teenage Emily, standing in Moscow's Red Square, right in front of St. Basil's cathedral. A beautiful young girl looked shyly at him, her black hair and coat a stark contrast to the colourful church gleaming in the sunlight behind her. He gave her a questioning look.

Emily looked up from the picture of Hotch and his son she was studying. She smiled at him when she saw the picture he was looking at. "I was seventeen then. Accompanied my Mum on an official trip to Russia."

Hotch turned back to the other items. Between two bits of paper he found a dried four-leaf clover. "Where's that one from?"

Emily chuckled. "France. I found it once when I was staying with relatives there. It's nearly ancient. Has been my lucky charm ever since."

"Does it work?"

"No idea. But sometimes I just love to think it does."

Hotch sat silent for a moment, seemingly lost in thought, when Emily asked him about the picture with his grandparents. He looked down at his hand which Emily had suddenly covered with hers.

He sighed "Sometimes I could really need a lucky charm that works and in which I can believe."

Emily studied him thoughtfully, until he turned to look back at her.

"What?" he asked.

She didn't immediately respond. But then she squeezed his hand. "Have it." she said, smiling.

"What?"

"The clover. Have it."

"What?"

"Your vocabulary has narrowed alarmingly, Agent Hotchner."

"Umm…"

Emily laughed. It was a beautiful laugh, charming and gracious, but at the same time free and uninhibited. "What's up with you, Hotch? I don't know you at a loss for words." She took the four-leaf clover from his hand, her face showing an expression of good and warm memories when she looked at it, and placed it back between the paper scraps before handing it to him. "I want you to have it. You are right, I guess, you really should have a lucky charm. Although I don't know whether this one will work."

"Emily… I can't... I can't take this. Not when it obviously means that much to you. I mean, otherwise you wouldn't have carried it with you for so long, and I…"

Emily's stare shut him up. "You talk too much. First nothing but 'what?' and now too much. Yes, Hotch, it means a lot to me, but I wouldn't to give it to you if it didn't, ok?"

"Thanks."

Had there been more light in the car, Emily could have seen him blush when he quickly turned to look back at her purse and the items cluttered in his lap.


	4. Chapter 4

Part IV

Since there was much more in Emily's purse to discover than in his own wallet, Hotch continued his quest to learn more about the woman behind Agent Prentiss when she had already put everything back in his wallet and leaned back in her car seat, studying him from the side.

Finally, Hotch's eyes fell on a photograph that must have been taken only recently. It showed Emily in a tight embrace with a rather handsome guy about her age, their faces cheek to cheek, both smiling happily into the camera, and obviously feeling most comfortable in each others arms.

The waves of first nausea, then pain, and finally anger washing over Hotch as he saw this picture were not expected. Once again, his iron control and ability to keep his face straight in every single situation came in very handy. But it took something. Hotch more felt than saw that his hands would give him away right now - he was surprised to notice them shaking, and he couldn't force it away.

Of course, Emily had a life outside work - only because he hadn't one any longer not everyone of his team must have become a social failure. Still, this hurt. Much more than he was willing to accept. Especially after Emily's spontaneous reaction just minutes ago, when she gave him the clover. Yeah, those lucky charms were simply not for him.

Hotch tilted the photograph in Emily's direction. "And who's this?" he asked her in what he thought was a nonchalant voice. From the look his question brought to Emily's face he immediately knew he'd failed. Big time.

Something wicked inside her made Emily get a little bit cocky. She put on a dreamy look before answering Hotch. "He's the love of my life." she stated simply.

Hotch felt as if someone had emptied a bucket of ice down the back of his shirt. "Ah." was all he managed to say.

"Yes... He's just a great guy. He's always there for me, whenever I need him, and it's always perfect fun to be with him."

"Mhm." Still nothing more from Hotch.

A moment later, he asked "You know him long?"

Emily chuckled to herself. "Nearly forever."

At this, Hotch looked up at her, puzzled. How come he'd never noticed there was a man in her life?

Emily couldn't contain herself any longer. "Hotch, he's my cousin." she blurted. "He's two years older than me, his father's my Dad's brother. When we were kids, we'd spend a lot of time together, at least when we were not living anywhere abroad. He is my big brother and teenage crush in one person. And yes, as you are dying to ask but will never dare to, I kissed him once, he actually was the first guy I ever kissed, but that's it. So you can now put away again that jealous look on your face."

Hotch cringed. Damn. Where had iron will and control gone? Or was she just guessing? He suspected not, quite aware that his face had probably spoken volumes about his feelings. "You read me like a book." he stated, grumpy. But something enormous and heavy had lifted from his soul.

Emily's voice was soft. "This wasn't so hard. It nearly came in capitals. And I'm a woman. We are good in recognising these sort of things, you know." Her hand was covering his again, the look in her eyes kind and gentle. "And I like it if you go all monosyllabic. It's kind of cute." she smiled.

They both fell silent, Emily still covering Hotchs hand, and studied the display of emotions on Hotch's face, all of a sudden all too aware of what she'd just provoked, and why she had done it. All too aware as well of his presence within the limited confines of the SUV, and most of all, aware of what his reaction really meant.

Her stomach gave an awkward flip and her pulse quickened, when she was hit by the realisation of what this meant to her, for her, and how much she liked this meaning.

Hotch's voice was low and velvety, but almost threatening as well when he said: "Don't like this." Emily tilted her head, an unspoken 'Don't like what?' hanging in the air. She could hear her heart beating in her ears and was sure he must hear it too, it was way too loud.

"This." Hotch waved the photograph in front of her. "And you calling other guys 'the love of my life'." He turned towards her as he spoke, his left hand grabbing her right shoulder roughly, pulling her in his direction. "And you fooling me like that." His right hand went behind her neck. "And..."

"Hotch."

He stared at her.

"Shut up."

What Hotch saw in Emily's eyes acutally made him shut up for good.

The urgency of his kiss shocked him, shocked her, but at the same time ignited a fire in both of them, and neither had any intention to use more words any longer.

Just maybe that lucky charm had its effects, if you believed in it strongly enough.


End file.
